Sakurako Korai

Sakurako Korai is a Japanese rugby union player. She competed for at the 2021 and 2025 Women's Rugby World Cups.

Early life

Korai followed her older sister at the age of three and began playing rugby at the Niigata Nakajo Rugby School. She graduated from Nakajo Junior High School in Tainai. After graduating from Kanto Gakuin Mutsuura High School in 2022, she entered Nippon Sport Science University.

On 24 July 2022, she made her international debut for, she came off the bench against. In November that year, she was subsequently selected for the Japananese squad to the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
In May 2025, she was handed her first captaincy role as she led her side in the opening match of the Asia Rugby Championship against, she also scored a hat-trick. She also led her team in their two-test series against ahead of the World Cup. On 28 July, she was named in the Japanese side to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England.